Customer Reviews

Samsung BD-P1400 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(78)

 

 

I have a BD-P1400, a PS3, and an Xbox 360 + HD-DVD drive. In the month that I've had the Samsung it's done a terrific job on video and audio quality. I'm playing it on a 46" Samsung LN-T4665F connected through HDMI. That's the good news, and it's certainly good. I've never had any of the stutters or other audio/video glitches that others have mentioned. On the other hand, here are the quirks that I've run into: (1) The Samsung takes by far the longest of my three players to load movies, and simply responding to an eject/open request takes 30 seconds for some reason (even when there's no disc inside). There's no feedback to tell you what's happening during eject, so you wonder if it's hung or actively thinking about it. (2) The Blu-ray movie producers in their infinite wisdom keep changing their DRM formats as their latest ones get hacked, which is an unbelievably customer unfriendly decision. The BR players are all updatable so it's conceptually possible to play the latest movies. Unfortunantely, the Samsung has a VERY unintuitive failure mode and upgrade procedure, which likely makes this required operation out of reach for most people on this device. Here's my (very long) step by step experience, which I hope will help give you a tangible understanding of what it's like, as well as potentially out anyone else similarly stuck. I ran into this with the new Live Free or Die Hard DVD, which after the usual 45 second or so load process simply hung the player. It wouldn't respond to any input (play, stop, menu, etc), the counter read "0000", and the screen remained black. I had heard about the DRM format issue, so suspected that this could be the potential problem - unfortunately I had bought that DVD on its first day of release and tried to play it that night so no one else had posted about their problems with that config yet. Following the manual's instructions, I plugged in a enet cable and tried to pick up the latest update. For some reason it didn't successfully get a DHCP address on my network, so I manually entered the network info. It told me that there was a new update available, so I selected download. When the download process strated, again these was no way to tell whether it was hung or actively working, and no way to tell how much progress it had made and how much more it still needed. As a result, after about 30 or 45 minutes I cancelled and tried again. (BTW, I'm connected through a Verizon FiOS fiber-optic connection that's as fast as any consumer internet in the US). After 20 minutes I gave up and went to bed, leaving it to (maybe) download overnight. In the morning, the machine was off but it when I powered it up I learned that it had not completed the upgrade. In retrospect I believe this is what happened: the download eventually completed, it put up a "do you want to upgrade your firmware" dialog box, and after a couple minutes of inactivity it timed out and eventually turned off. Nice design, their engineers clearly did not try this in their homes. I gave it one more try in the morning, leaving it running while I ate breakfast and did email. After an hour or so the download completed, the "do you want to upgrade" dialog came up, and I said "yes" before it timed out. The upgrade completed successfully, but unfortunatley the Live Free or Die Hard movie still hung the player. At this point I suspected a faulty disc, so I got a replacement from the retailer. The new disc had the same problem, though, which told me that this was a player bug. Since the movie had been out for a day, I found a couple posts of other people having problems including one that got a confirmation from Samsung support. I called support, who eventually told me that the version 1.2 firmware on the website would fix the issue (hint, you need to know exactly what to ask and be persistent since this person would have sent me away with false information if I hadn't kept clarifying her responses). Going to the website, I found the alternate method of upgrading the firmware that the support person desribed, downloading a zip file to a PC, loading the .iso to a CD-R or CD-RW, and playing that on the player. I hadn't found this in the user's manual, but it certainly couldn't be any worse than the online method I had gone through in the previous 24 hours. Interestingly, there was no obvious way to relate the "version 1.2" available on the website with the version I had upgraded to online that morning (the online version uses a long date code instead of a version number). With nothing to lose, I went ahead and tried using a CD-RW using the instructions posted on the web. No luck, the player didn't recognize it as a firmware update. I tried again with a CD-R. Still no luck. Still clinging to a tiny shred of hope that (a) the "version 1.2" might actually fix the problem, and (b) the version 1.2 might have been posted to the web that day after I did my upgrade in the morning - a day after a major blockbuster movie that required it was released nationwide, but who's counting - I tried the painful online update process again. Lo and behold, a new update was available that might be version 1.2 (?) I went through the update, and the movie worked! Wow. This is a lot more detail than you likely need to make a buying decision, unless you read this and say "wow, reading those details tells me that this machine requires a lot more technical messing around than I'm comfortable with just to watch a movie". Potentially this might help someone else who has already bought the player figure out why a new movie hangs the box mysteriously - I would have LOVED to find this two days ago. Maybe Samsung will even read it and start to understand how painful their current usability is, even for a moderately technical user.

Unfortunately, since Bluray is still in its infancy (so-to-speak) there aren't many options for players. I bought the BD-P1400 and found that while the picture quality is great and the upconversion quality is superb, there are still some problems with this player. My first unit starting having hardware/software problems; namely, it would simply quit playing during the middle of the movie, at random times and multiple times throughout a movie. I returned the unit and exchanged for the same model and have not experienced the same problem with the new unit. Also, there are some basic functions missing on this player:
1) No Replay/Skip-back button which seems to be a pretty standard feature on DVD players nowadays. I miss this button a lot.
2) No memory feature. When you stop a movie you have to start over as if you just loaded it in the player.
3) (2) becomes a very annoying problem if you pause movies frequently for breaks or doing chores around the house, which I do a lot. When you pause a movie it will only pause for about 5 minutes, then it will go to screen saver. After a few minutes of screen saver it will STOP the movie and when you come back you have to start the movie over and try to find where you were. This is a MAJOR annoyance!
4) It is missing DVD playback features like viewing different angles, etc.

It is my opinion that this player was released prematurely based on its feature set. However, Samsung did a great job on the Bluray compatibility & picture quality and the DVD upconversion quality. If you want a player for quality HiDef video and don't care about features this is a great player. However, if you want more features out of your player, you may want to hold out for later generation models.

If there were a lot of other players on the market right now that didn't have these same flaws, I would have rated this player much lower just based on features. However, I understand that Bluray is still in its infant stages of development and manufacturers are rushing products to market to compete (and hopefully win) with HD-DVD. Thus, I am not too upset with my investment in this model. But I also know that I will want to purchase another Bluray player before this one reaches the end of its life.

p.s. I have purchased several Bluray discs and also rented quite a few from Netflix and so far have not encountered one disc that this player will not play.

I've owned this BR player for 6 weeks. Its had problems loading some discs off and on, but with a firmware update most of them have eventually loaded and played. Yesterday it suddenly stopped loading Blu-Ray discs all togerther. DVD discs load and play.

I've searched the web, especially the excellent bluray.com website, and have noticed that most Blu-ray players have problems, but Samsung stands out for poor support. Before purchasing this player, or any other player, check out the manufacturer's support and factor that into your decision to purchase.

Although Blu-Ray produces stunning 1080p video, it is definitely not a plug-n-play technology (at least not today). Since the technology is still emerging, a Blu-Ray player must be managed similarly to a computer and checked for firmware updates periodically.

I picked the Samsung BP-P1400 because of the extra connections including an Ethernet port and optical audio jack. I had multiple problems out of the box, but then finally loaded the firmware update. The update fixed some of the problems, but I still had problems with the movie stopping during playback for no reason (Polar Express and Planet Earth are two examples).

I finally decided to return the player even though the video & audio are superb. There is a chance that Samsung will eventually fix these bugs with future firmware versions, but I decided not to take the risk.

As someone who purchased the very first Blu-Ray player on the market, I can say, with hindsight, how far the technology has come.

This unit supports uncompressed TrueHD sound for a much more realistic soundtrack, HDMI 1.3 for the full color spectrum, and includes an Ethernet Port for firmware updates (which some new spec unit do not include).

This unit upscales standard def DVDs as well as any stand alone unit I used (incl my Oppo 981). While some DVD color banding is evident, keep in mind I'm watching it on a 72" TV.

Loading times vary seemingly with how Java-rich the BRD is that I'm watching.

While the remote is intuitive, the buttons are not backlighted and the size of the buttons for more minor functions do not lend themselves to people with large hands.

Out of the box, it's usable but you'll likely get more functionality setting it up with someone with a modicum HD experience.

The unit did freeze while watching Spiderman II. However, after loading in the latest firmware the unit has played without incident.

As improvements in the firmware are made, it's a worthwhile use of time to check every so often for the free upgrades.

I enjoy my unit for which I paid $370; I would purchase it again unhesitatingly .

I have a Playstation 3 that has awesome picture quality for both Blu-Ray and upscaling of Standard DVD's since a software upgrade. We use this for our main HD TV in the family room. I needed another player for a second HD tv we just had hung in our bedroom. I waited for the BD-P1400 to become available since I already committed to the Blu-Ray format and wanted the latest technology available. I can not say enough about the sound quality that this player offers, it is unbelievable. The picture quality is excellent and on par with the Playstation 3. I am seriously considering purchasing a second BD-P1400 for our main set because of the outstanding sound.

The only problem with the player is if you stop viewing a movie and want to come back to it at another time. It does not remember where it left off, but either does the Playstation 3.

Great player especially for the money.

I purchased this unit when it was approx $340 based on it processing DTS-MA and True Dolby HD. It was the cheapest BD player that would either decode or pass through that type of audio. I have an Onkyo TX-SR605 and wanted to take advantage of the HDMI 1.3 connections. My 1st Sammy 1400 was delivered with the 1.2 version of firmware and all seemed well until I tried to play Pirates 3 and it just hung on the menus. Corpse Bride also would not play. Samsung indicated that "some" 1400s were having issues and a firmware update would be coming shortly.

I called Amazon, who are great, and they exchanged the unit for another one. I upgraded the firmware via network connection and immediately tried to play Pirates and it worked! This was great....so I thought. At about 20mins into the movie, my tv started to flicker as if someone was turning it on and off repeatedly. I also noticed the HDMI indicator on my Onkyo receiver was flashing as well. I popped in Casino Royale and it was playing great and again, 20 mins into the movie I started having HDMI handshake issues again.

No matter what movie I played, whether it was bitstream, PCM, DTS-HD or just Dolby D, I started having HDMI handshake issues about 15-20mins into a movie. At this point I started questioning my receiver and my tv but since this unit was only 2 days old, I sent it back for a refund and bought the Panasonic DMP-BD30 and could be happier. No more HDMI issues and it plays every movie like it should. No problems with DTS-MA or True Dolby with my Onkyo.

To date, Samsung STILL has not issued an new firmware revision for the 1400 and I feel sorry for all the people that got this player over the Holidays and can't play the newest films ie, Pirates 3 & the new Die Hard.

I would absolutely NOT recommend this unit.

This player is very similar to the previous BD-P1200 which was not a bad player. But if you are planning to get a Blu-ray player, keep in mind that these players are still under the Profile 1.0 banner.

The profile 1.0 brings a basic set of features and leave other features available only on the future player profiles. Player profile 1.1 is effective on October 31st meaning that the newer players announced after such date must have the profile 1.1 (this player is already available so it is not profile 1.1). Player profile 2.0 - the final profile - has no date yet announced.

Like any High Definition technology, one cannot say this player is bad. It upconverts your standard definition DVDs nicely and will give you a list features that will make the delight of any AV enthusiast. It does output 1080p image and that alone is a great thing to see.

GOOD POINTS (something that can make you buy it)
-Upconversion of standard definition DVDs.
-Lan connection for online software updates.
-It supports HDMI 1.3.
-Price (compared to other Blu-ray stand alone players only).

BAD POINTS (something that will make you buy other Blu-ray model or go HD DVD)
-Still a player profile 1.0 (I'm not sure if it is possible to upgrade this player to profile 1.1). This is a half-developed minimum player profile. So it has no dual stream video decoding, for PiP and other advanced interactive functions (only available in HD DVD players for now).
-Region coding (if you only care for "Zone-A" discs, this may not be a problem for you. Otherwise you may try HD DVD which is a region free format).
-Price (compared to the cheaper PS3 and HD DVD players).

Still, for this price, this blu-ray player can be a good choice.
OR you'll want to go for the cheaper PS3, OR wait for a Profile 1.1/2.0 player to come out, OR take a look at a HD DVD player.

I have had this unit for a month now after having a Sony 300. Much is argued about this machine, but bottom line is that if you want to plug this into your receiver and hear the next generation audio, this is one of your only choices. Other machines may play them through an HDMI connection, which only a few receivers have. This machine will play them through your 5.1 analog connection, which most modern receivers have. The PS3 won't do this, either.

This machine is "profile 1.0", meaning it does not have the latest and greatest features, like internal memory, picture-in-picture, and web connectivity. Some machines are boasting "profile 1.1", and ultimately all new machines will have to be "profile 2.0". Personally, I couldn't care less about picture-in-picture and the last thing I need is one more thing connected to the internet. I just want to watch movies with high quality picture and sound like you find at the theater. If that's what matters to you, this machine will fit the bill perfectly.

The other thing that matters most to me is being able to "upscale" regular DVD's to high definition for my large TV. This after all, I have a large collection of DVD's and rent DVD's continually, so I want to play them, too. This machine does a great job of making regular DVD's look good on my big TV, so you can use this one machine to play everything. A lot of people say the PS3 is the best Blu-ray player on the market, yet it does NOT upscale regular DVD's.

There is an ethernet port for updates via the internet, but to tell you the truth, it us much easier to upgrade by downloading the software from Samsung and burning it to a CD with your computer. The theory is that Samsung will be able to keep this machine updated as new Blu-ray disc playability issues arise. We'll see how well Samsung follows through on this.

I have had a slight "stuttering" issue on some Blu-ray disks. There is rumor that it is related to the 24p cinema mode. It is hardly noticeable (I could turn off the 24p option if it really bothered me). I expect Samsung will correct this with a firmware upgrade soon.

As of this date, no Blu-ray player has ALL the features, all the compatibility, and all the future features. There is no perfect player yet. Technology will continue to change - perfection is a moving target. But if you want to play Blu-ray and DVD's, with great picture and sound, and connect it to your home stereo system with 5.1 analog, this is your best choice. Simple as that.

I bought a 1080p HDTV on Black Friday and I recognized that I needed a Blu-Ray or HD DVD player to achieve it's full potential. I chose this Samsung BD-P1400 because of the free movie offer, price and the fact that it matched the Samsung HDTV that I just bought.

I knew about the quirks and encountered some strange things that were immediately solved by upgrading the firmware. I did the upgrade by the CD method outlined in the manual. 10min was all that took.

Seeing that I am upgrading from a standard DVD player, Blu-Ray provides superior picture quality by leaps and bounds. I am not a discriminating fellow, so I am going to generalize like most people that a $600 Blu-Ray player is going to have roughly the same picture quality as this $300 unit. I would agree with others that the startup time for movies is a good 30sec to a minute. The lack of a "bookmark" feature does make things inconvenient.

And since the Blu-Ray HD DVD war continues, it makes little sense to invest in the more expensive units for my demographic.